Friends!

Today Laura and Maeghan came up to camp to see Shae! It is so nice to have part of "the outside world" up here from time to time. They had lots of laughing and catching up to do. I LOVE hearing them laugh. Next year they will be in three different states going to school....

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of JOY."

Job 8:21

Father's Day

We spent Father's Day at camp again this year. Our first group of the summer arrived today, so it was a busy day for the "dads" around here!

Scott was busy all day, but we did get to have dinner with him!

Emmaline and Anna made a special cake and cupcakes with homemade frosting for the occasion...without ANY help! {and they were de-lish!}

We had 400 campers for dinner...can you tell Lindsay was VERY distracted by them? She LOVES spaghetti night, too...;) I love it when she sits with Papa, he always cleans her up when she is finished!

Jenn and Shae made Scott a special Redding Airport Runway cake complete with the airplane and the 3-4 runway marked! "Cake Boss" here they come!!! Hahaha!

My girls are so blessed to have not only a godly father, but two grandfathers who have given them a godly heritage! We are so fortunate to have their influence during the whole summer too! My parents come from Phoenix, Arizona to spend their summers at camp. My dad and Scott's dad have the most amazingly beautiful green grass everywhere...and Scott cringes when he gets the water bill! As I am typing this, I hear Scott's Dad preaching to the staff downstairs. What a way to spend a summer!! Blessed I tell ya!

Here are all 4 of the grandparents. How I LOVE my mom to be here...Lindsay hangs out with her every.single.day. I am so thankful for grandmas who babysit!

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful Fathers in our lives! We love you so very much and we are very thankful for you!!

This is how we roll in the summer...

I heard the familiar sound of the mower outside Scott's office window this morning...

and there was SHAE, "queen of the kitchen" out there mowing!!

Anna Fay Luff's 11th Birthday

Happy 11th Birthday Anna Fay, my blue~eyed girl!

June is a busy time of year to celebrate a birthday. Graduations, end of school, beginning of camp (for us) all mean that people are too busy to come to your party. So, Anna has always celebrated with our camp staff!

This year, she had 2 "parties" though! Laurie and Hannah were in town so we celebrated with them for the first one!

Hannah gave her some darling pajamas~perfect for camp all summer!

We have a very special friend (I met her on Facebook!!) who lives in South Africa! Her name is so beautiful, Natania Genevieve Luff. We KNOW we must somehow be related since she has relatives from Europe and so does Scott! She sent the girls precious silver bracelets with their names engraved a few months ago. They LOVE them! We text and have even talked to her on the phone! She is a darling, sweet girl! She has been working on a special birthday gift for Anna for a while and Anna was tickled pink to open it!

PINK is Anna's favorite color and her bedroom color, so the adorable gift is already hanging up!

We had a "camp party" tonight! Jenn made the cute zebra banner while I was home with Lindsay who had pneumonia! Thank goodness for fast antibiotics! She feels much better, so we were able to get up to camp to celebrate!

And....Now.....Anna WON'T be the ONLY one without a phone!

This year Miss Judy brought her granddaughter, Emmaline, with her to camp from Georgia for a few weeks!(awful picture of Lindsay,I know, but she was eating a lollipop!) Lindsay thinks she has died and gone to heaven! Of course she thinks Emmaline is here for her. She wants to be one of the big girls so badly, and it is fun when she is included! Anna has had a ball having a friend her own age around too! Hope Emmaline's parents don't miss her too much, because we want her to stay a while!

Anna, I hope you had a wonderful day. You deserve it. You started off as a screaming baby for several months, I wasn't too sure we would get along very well! But, I guess that strong will you had was part of the character building process. You have grown into such a precious girl. I honestly don't know what I would do without you! You are "the baby" but you don't ever get to "be" the baby. You are so nurturing to all of your family (especially Lindsay~thankyou!)You are so thoughtful and kind. You are soft spoken and careful of what you say. You always think of others first and are a selfless servant. You make the most delicious pancakes too! I am excited to what God has planned for you in the future, I know you will have a life of blessing if you just follow His directions!

I love you so very much and can't imagine my life without YOU!

Happy Birthday!

(give me a call sometime~or text me!)

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We have had so much going on these last few weeks. Most of our activities have centered around Shae's graduation and it has been so much fun!

The night before graduation we had a little get together for Shae since we couldn't do it on the night of graduation because of the senior's all night party.

The weather has been just beautiful so the evening of the "party" was cool enough to eat outside.

I had big plans for using my white dishes...but Scott said no way since our dishwasher is broken! (I am like a pioneer woman doing them by hand these days...we most likely won't get another one until after summer. Good thing we will be at camp!)

My nephew, Gavin, LOVES to eat...especially with grandma and Papa. (oh those eyes :)

Austin was enthralled with my ice water dispenser. He was a wonderful "water waiter"!

This picture is one of the most precious sights you could see~ a cousin sleepover! I am an only child, so I am thrilled to have married the oldest of 5...and my girls have 7 cousins! Hannah was here with Scott's sister for graduation all the way from Dallas! She and her 2 brothers along with our 5 year old twin cousins will be here for 2 weeks this summer at camp! It has become a tradition we look forward to and it keeps the kids close, even though they live so far apart!

Anna, Lindsay and Hannah

Shae has decided she really likes this whole graduation thing. Cards and gifts in the mail, friends and family congratulating her...what's not to love?

Grandma and Papa got her the darling Kathy Von Zeland zebra 3 piece luggage set that will help her roll into Lynchburg in style!

My sister- in- law, Laurie is one of the most thoughtful, creative people you could ever know. She has been collecting special things for Shae for months now. Shae opened 12 very well though out gifts to represent her 12 years in school (she skipped 8th grade so she truly was in school for 12 years!) Shae and Laurie have always had a very special relationship. I think it is because Laurie took me to the hospital when Shae was born and stayed with me to WATCH her come into the world (Scott was at camp but made it home in time, not that he watched her birth!) Laurie...your gifts always put me to shame!

The polka dot pillow for Shae's dorm room was my favorite thing! She was also able to find the MATCHING tote to Shae's luggage! We could NOT believe it!

We had one last dinner with Hannah and Laurie before they flew back to Texas. These two boys were so excited to have everyone over to their house!!

Scott, Shae and Anna had to get up to camp, so Lindsay and I stayed home and went up a few days later. Lindsay wasted NO TIME getting over to Grandma Welms' house at camp. While she was busy with blocks and catching up with Grandma, Anna and I did some re-arranging...and "un-bunking" the beds in their room.

We thought it looked so cute and "big-girl" but, Lindsay wasn't happy.at all. Looks like we may be bunking those beds again in the next week or so since she just "wuvs the beds on top of each other".

Lindsay and I spent 2 nights at camp. Not restful nights at all. She seemed so out of it and all night she was groaning and grunting. I got in her bed to rub her back and she was on FIRE! I gave her Tylenol and it didn't do a thing for the fever. This morning she wanted Anna to get in her bed with her and told Anna, "I have your spot all warm for you", she wasn't kidding! I called the doctor, then took her in. Pneumonia. Great.

She was so excited to finally be at camp and now we are home. She is on an antibiotic and I am hoping she feels good enough to go to camp to celebrate Anna's birthday tomorrow!

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Hydrangeas

When I open my bathroom blinds in the mornings, I am greeted by the most beautiful, happy sight!

Hydrangeas!

The take almost NO effort to grow.

I love that they faithfully show their beautiful faces every summer!

It's like a little "taste of southern" right here in California!

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Shae's Senior Trip

Shae and her class spent their last official week of high school in the Virgin Islands! They do fund raisers for 4 years to be able to pay for it. This year Shae was so busy with volleyball she missed out on some of the fund raising opportunities so she sold some stuff on EBay and made $500 to make up the difference!

The kids left the school parking lot at 11:30 pm on a bus to catch their 6:00 am flight out of San Fransisco. They had a 4 hour layover in Miami before arriving in St. Thomas at 8:00 pm! I think you have to be young to travel like that!

Shae went on and on about the delicious food in the Virgin Islands! Her favorite thing was "the BEST red velvet cake ever!"

They swam in the crystal clear water.

They endured 110% humidity! Those California kids are NOT used to ANY humidity!

They toured ruins, took "a five hour hike" (when Shae was telling me this on the phone, Mr. Borden was shouting "2 hour hike!!!") Shae might be a little bit of an exaggerator!

They shopped a little and did a missions day cleaning up a beach in the pouring down rain.

They saw Blackbeard's castle...

and drank LOTS of yummy smoothies!

What a beautiful place to spend a week with your friends!

They stayed the first night in a hotel in St. Thomas before moving to St. John to stay at a "camp ground". The accommodations weren't what they had expected, at all. The "cottages" were 2 brick walls and 2 screen walls. It was miserably hot at night and they all got eaten alive by bugs...even with bug spray on.

They all had such great attitudes about the whole thing and were able to embrace the experience!

The night of graduation, during the all night party, Mr. Borden (their beloved teacher and his wife were the chaperons during the trip) handed each one of the kids a graduation card from Nancy, their Joshua Expeditions tour guide. INSIDE WAS THE MOST PRECIOUS LETTER! She went on and on about "her kids" and how they had the best attitudes, were flexible and that they never complained. She said they were the sweetest, most gracious group she had ever had! She couldn't believe there was NO drama at all! She said that EVERYONE who met this group had the same thing to say! The bus driver, the local tour bus driver, the restaurant staff, etc.

This comes as no surprise to me.

Shae walked in the door at home at 3am. I am so glad we left a car at school for her!

Lindsay couldn't wait to get into Shae's bed the next morning! She missed her terribly, which makes me wonder how she will cope with her big sister being all the way in Virginia next year!

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